A Fair Chat on Web vs. Native Development

Here’s a good discussion hosted by Google Developers about the pros and cons of developing for web browsers vs. creating (mobile) native apps:

Philosophically I heavily favor open platforms to avoid upfront bulky downloads, stale walled gardens, and bridge trolls, but there are good arguments for native brought here:

Offline support is incomplete on the web

Notifications are just nascent (Chrome only of this writing)

The important caveat that they do bring up during the chat is that given enough time, “the web” should get there. It’s good to be able to have this sort of conversation not just from the ideological point of view, but also with the willingness to acknowledge the practical limitations of each type of platform, even the one you champion.